Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'worse than fossil fuels'
The UK's "irrational" use of biofuels will cost vehicle drivers around ₤ 460 million over the next 12 months, a think tank states.
A report by Chatham House, external says the growing reliance on sustainable liquid fuels will also increase food rates.
The author states that biodiesel made from vegetable oil was even worse for the environment than nonrenewable fuel sources.
Under EU law, external, biofuels are set to make up 5% of the UK's transport fuel from today.
Since 2008, the UK has actually required fuel providers to add a growing percentage of sustainable materials into the petrol and diesel they supply. These biofuels are primarily ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, used cooking oil and tallow.
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But research study carried out for Chatham House says that reaching the 5% level means that UK vehicle drivers will need to pay an extra ₤ 460m a year because of the higher cost of fuel at the pump and from filling up regularly as biofuels have a lower energy material.
The report state that if the UK is to satisfy its commitments to EU energy targets the cost to motorists is most likely to rise to ₤ 1.3 bn per year by 2020.
"It is tough to discover any great news," Rob Bailey, senior research fellow at Chatham House, told BBC News.
"Biofuels increase expenses and they are an extremely costly method to minimize carbon emissions," he said.
The EU biofuel mandates are likewise having extremely distorting effects in the market. Because utilized cooking oil is considered one of the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the price for it has increased rapidly. Rob Bailey states that towards completion of 2012 it was more costly than refined palm oil.
"It produces a financial reward to purchase refined palm oil, cook a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and then sell it at revenue,"
"It is insane however the rewards exist."
There are likewise stresses that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is creating more climate problems than it fixes. The more fuel of this type that is put into cars the larger the deficit created in the edible oils market. This had caused increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, typically produced on deforested land.
"Once you take into account these indirect effects, biofuels made from veggie oils really result worldwide in more emissions than you would get from utilizing diesel in the very first place," stated Rob Bailey.
"Plus you are asking drivers to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is a totally unreasonable technique."
Biofuel benefits
The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the industry, external across the EU, said it knew the issues brought on by the required. But it thinks that biofuels have lots of positives.
"Blaming biofuels for all the troubles worldwide is a bit too exaggerated," stated Isabelle Maurizi, task manager at the EBB.
"It has brought lots of advantages. It has improved the security of our diesel
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Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'even Worse than Nonrenewable Fuel Source'
Delores Evatt edited this page 6 months ago